The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the Telangana government’s plea challenging a High Court stay on its order to increase Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation in local bodies to 42%, effectively halting the proposed hike ahead of upcoming local elections.
A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta rejected the state’s Special Leave Petition against the October 9 interim order of the Telangana High Court, reported Live Law. The High Court had stayed three government orders (GOs) issued on September 26, which sought to raise OBC reservations in Mandal Praja Parishads, Zilla Praja Parishads, and Gram Panchayats under the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018.
The state’s attempt to increase OBC quotas had faced criticism for potentially breaching the 50% ceiling on total reservations set by the Supreme Court’s Constitution Bench. With SC reservations included, the proposed hike would have raised cumulative reservations in local bodies to 67%.
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